The present invention relates to a machine for reading images on an image carrier, such as a microfiche with a device for holding the image carrier between two glass plates which can be slid across the optical plane of an optical system.
Reading machines of this type and similar types are known, which are constructed such that a frame containing the glass plates for the holding device is supported along a horizontal plane in the machine in such a manner as to enable the frame to be moved both longitudinally and laterally. The base portion of the machine, therefore, must be of a sufficient size to allow the holding device for the microfiche to be moved along the base into any of one of a plurality of positions for viewing the desired image. These machines, however, present the disadvantage that the glass plates are bent by the pressure of the so-called floating optics; i.e. the optical system or at least a portion of it, since in order to keep the microfiche flat and to obtain an even sharpness of the image, the optical system rests and presses against the upper glass plate.